A rustic crafts village in Hi-Tech city

Handmade  arts  and crafts is generally believed to  mirror the  culture and civilsation of   a region or state.  But in today’s  globalised  world,  where the challenge is to increase the productivity of synthetic products( read made in China ) through technical excellence, traditional creative artistry  using environment friendly raw materials and pain staking workmanship  has been sidelined.

Some organizations and individuals have taken keen interest to  promote such creative artisans and revive Indian art and project it to the modern world. One such creation is Shilparamam  on the periphery  of Hi-Tec city, by the Government of AP .

With MNC’s and 7Star hotel as neighbours, Shilparamam is a rustic  village specially created to promote  the creative artisans and their traditional art from every corner of our country.  It hosts  numerous  fairs, annual bazaars, night bazaars  and crafts festivals  throughout the year and provides the buyers  a market to buy objects of art directly from the artisans without having to deal with the middleman. 

The architecture of this place would remind you of a village with all those beautiful stalls with hay conical roofs, terracotta plastered  uneven walls and painted with beautiful rangolis in white.  The village museum here showcases life as in village of yore. At the switch of a button all the village folks start performing chores like chaffing grains,cooking on chulha, grinding with grinding stone, pestle mortar, weaving yarns into clothes etc.,

Spread over 50 acres of land, it has a multipurpose auditorium called Shilpakala vedika which stages concerts, folk dramas, an amphitheatre, a miniature village museum, art gallery,  cultural  and artistic workshops, eateries serving traditional cuisine and place for recreation like boating and live shows. Festivals are celebrated here in the most unique and traditional way. It is a perfect place to getaway and connect our touch button generation to the roots of our rich heritage.

Though many fairs take place regularly, the one that happens in the last fortnight  of December is a major event(Dec 16- Dec31) called THE ALL INDIA CRAFTS MELA and attracts heavy crowd and sales.

It is also a pleasure to shop at such haats than malls for a change because these haats are also a haggler’s delight and there are no middlemen involved.

In short, visiting this place would make you feel as though you have taken an All india tour of Indian crafts and textiles. The only negative point about this haat is that there are no ATM's or swipe card machines so have your purse loaded or you will miss many best buys.

 Sharing with you some photos clicked at the haat with an alert that this is a long visual post but would be nice if you view them till the end. ( all photos clicked by me in my camera mobile, so excuse the clarity factor)

The entrance to Shilparamam

Jute craft of West Bengal

                                                  Mithila paintings( Madhu bani) of Bihar

Brass craft of Tamilnadu

Dhurries and table mats from Bhuj, Gujrat

                                                                  Patchitra   of Orissa(?)

                                                             Beyond the spectrum of Rainbow (pattachitra on wooden bottles)

Beautiful weaver bird nest and nest wreaths. No clue from which place? Do you know?

                                                          Dyed     Dry flowers of North East

                                         Loved this Brindavan and the beautiful rangoli. Throughout shilparamam you will find all the stalls,and other places plastered with terracotta red and decorated with such beautiful rangolis.

                   Bargained the earthy walnut wood chair for half the quoted rate and now adorns my home.

furniture made from bamboo

Carvings of neem wood painted with earthy colors make a beautiful show piece reflecting our culture

                                            Leather lampshades and wall puppets of Andhra Pradesh

                                                 Stone craft of UP(?)

                                                                   Marble craft from Rajasthan

Kondapalli toys of Andhra Pradesh

                                                                   Glass art of UP

                                                  Minakari  crafted on Brass metal of UP

                                               Aurangabad Batik prints

enormous patience, dedication and concentration must have gone into crafting this beautiful door made from Red Sanders wood unique to Tirupati and Srikalahasti

Yes, please 'Don't Tuch'( hyderabadi english)

                                     Red Sanders (Marapacchi) Ganeshji awaiting make up.One day i want  a replica of this to adorn my beauty wall separting my drawing and dining room (cost 60,000INR),  not such an expensive one but one made of papier mache.I am on the look out for this.

                                                                       Portraiture

                                Thanjavur painting of  Tamilnadu. Very expensive art, cos  it is made with gold leaf and real gems.  A piece of this art would infuse your home with divinity and warmth.

                                                                 Terracotta figurines to adorn your balcony or sitout

                        Glazed pottery - brindavan, plant holders, key hangers and nest draws for storing spices

                                               Terracots objects of art and porcelain crockery at the far end.

                                     Urulis, figurines and knick knacks to add beauty to the corners of your home.

                                                                          terracotta again

                                          A slice of shilparamam, at the far end the glass and chrome building  is its neighbour Cyberpearl housing GE